Friday, September 29, 2017

Quick Hit: 2017 Fantasy Baseball Awards

The 2017 season is coming to a close and the 2017 fantasy
season has all but concluded here so let’s take a look at who won you your
respective leagues and who will be taking home the 2017 Fantasy Baseball major
awards.

If you drafted Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton this season
you were probably very happy with your pick. Why? Chicks, and fantasy owners,
dig the long ball and both players have surpassed 50 home runs this season for
their respective teams. One of these two have to win the Fantasy MVP and I
think, all bias aside, that Judge has to ultimately take home the award. Judge
hits home runs, sure, but he also takes his walks and has a great on-base
percentage and RBI total. Sure, Judge is going to strikeout a lot but like in
the game and in Fantasy Baseball an out is an out no matter how you record it.
Cody Bellinger and Elvis Andrus should also get at least some consideration
after strong fantasy seasons.

It is easy to load up your pitching staff with Clayton
Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale or other perennial All-Star pitchers
but it is usually those diamond in the rough type guys that wins you your
league and three names in particular stood out for me this season in fantasy.
Alex Wood of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Luis Severino of the New York Yankees and
Ervin Santana of the Minnesota Twins. Where would the Twins be without Santana
this season? Not in the AL Wild Card Game, you can bet that, and the same may
be said for the Yankees and their sudden emerging ace Severino. Wood though may
have shocked the world with his start to the 2017 season heading into the
All-Star break with an 11-0 record. Wood is now an MLB 15-game winner with a
sub-3.00 ERA and a miniscule WHIP making him an absolute steal for any owner
that drafted him or picked him up via trade or off of waivers.

The final award we will hand out for Fantasy Baseball this
season will be the Rookie of the Year. I am going to cheat a little bit and I
am going to leave Judge off the list since I already handed him the MVP award
and instead take the time to honor and showcase the season that Whit Merrifield
had for the Kansas City Royals. No one knew the name Merrifield before Raul
Mondesi Jr. began the 2017 season with a .114 batting average as the team’s starting second
baseman pushing the team to call up Merrifield from Triple-A. Merrifield has
done nothing but impress since his late April call up stealing over 30 bases
and pushing 20 home runs and 80 RBI keeping the Royals in the playoff chase all
season long.

According to the USA Today here are the Top 15 players for
your 2018 Draft. Yes, it’s early but it’s never too early for some to start
preparing for next season. Enjoy.